Social Security Testimony Before Congress

Statement by Dean Mesterharm,
Deputy Commissioner for Systems,
before the House Committee on Science, Subcommittee on Technology

May 14, 1996

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:

I appreciate the opportunity to discuss the Year 2000 Projetc at the Social Security Administration
(SSA), and I thank you for your efforts to focus attention on a matter which urgencly needs to be
addressed. In your letter of invitation you asked me to describe what we are doing to prevent
breakdowns in our systems and whether Federal agencies are aware of the problem. I will begin by
outlining the reasons why change is needed and what we are doing to address the problem, so that
the transition to the new century is a smooth one.

Reason Change Is Needed

Mr. Chairman, a unique event will take place on January 1, 2000. On that day, we will experience
the first century change since the start of the computer era. This event poses enormous challenges
for the data processing community, as public and private sector organizations around the world
prepare for the
single largest integration feat since computers entered our daily lives.

The reason that the century change poses a problem is that many computer programs store and use
only the last two digits of a year and assume that the first two digits are 19. Under this
practice, computer logic operations work as long as dates are in the same century, but problems
arise when it is necessary to use dates in two differenc centuries. For example, subtracting
December 31, 1995, from December 31, 2005, to determine someone's
age would produce the incorrect answer of minus 90 instead of the correct result of 10.

The inceraction of daces among different programs, syscems, and agencies is one of the factors
which gives the Year 2000 issue such complexity. Timing considerations become very important
because either the sending or receiving agency will need to convert =iles from one format to
another, unless both are ready co make cheir ear 2000 changes ac the same time. For example,
every employer in che United Staces with 250 or more employees must report their employees'
earnings to SSA in some form of magnetic media. It is unlikely that they will all be converted at
the same time. It is more likely that they will process chei
reports throuh a filtering program to substitute the appropriate
date format.

Labor-Intensive Process

The solution to the problem is obvious, but labor intensive, for organizations such as SSA which
depend heavily on computer operations. Wherever we currencly add, subtract, compare, or sort using
a two-digit year, we will need to substitute a four­ digit year.

While that sounds simple, our experience shows us that implementing it in computer systems is far
from a simple task. There is no way to create a technical quick-fix to this problem. Virtually all
computer systems rely on dates to some extent, but agencies such as SSA which are extremely
date-sensitive are ac greater risk if the Year 2000 conversion is not done on time and properly.
At SSA, there are two complicating factors in the conversion process. One is the sheer size of the
task. SSA has over 30 million lines of software now in use. The other is that there is no
automated way to review the software. Each line must be examined individually to see if a change
is needed. Our initial estimates indicate that it will take approximately 300 workyears to make
and test the necessary changes, and the entire effort throughout SSA could require many more
workyears. We are currently in the process of refining our estimates of total workyears which will
be needed. Regardless of the amount of workyears needed, this activity cannot be deferred. We are
planning to complete this projecc with in-house resources, but that means that, if additional
resources are not budgeted, the resources for this critical project will not be available to do
other systems development and modernization projects that would assist in processing increasing
workloads with decreasing staff.

Of course, we are not the only organization faced with this problem, or the only one involved in
addressing it. Every organization in the world, including every Federal and State agency that uses
computers, must address this very problem. I am proud to report that SSA is in the forefront in planning
for dealing with this issue. In fact, SSA began examining the problem in 1989. We have changed the formats of dates in our major databases to include the
century and have begun making changes to our application software. All of the new software we are
developing is, of course, year 2000-compliant.

As part of our early efforts, we conducted pilots, involving representative programs, and studied the time required to modify them for date changes. These
pilots raised the awareness of our personnel of the amount of time and complexity the entire
project would entail, and gave us an indication of how to schedule the work to be done.

We will have all Year 2000 changes made by December 31, 1998.
This will give us an entire year to use our millennium changes in our production systems, ensuring
that our current processing is unaffected and that the Year 2000 changes also function as designed.
Of course, while we are making these changes to all
our systems, our other work must remain on schedule.

After all, we must have the changes working by January 1, 2000. Unlike other computer outages, with
which we are all familiar,
you can't simply buy a new piece of hardware or hire an expert to get the system running again. If
your system doesn't work, it is not likely to work for a long time.

Scope of the Problem

The problem exists for all of the mainframe computers and
personal computers (PCs) in use throughout SSA. All the PC-based codes used in our regional
offices and Program Service Centers musbe examined. In addition, if any employees have written
programs currently in use, the programs must be examined to determine if any changes are required.
We will also need to determine when commercial software products which we use will be
Year 2000-compliant.

Tools Available to Help

Although there is no automated solution, there are tools available that will help with this
problem. We purchased one of these, the VIA/ALLIANCE software product from VIASOFT, in
June 1995. This product helps identify dates in our computer
system and tracks their flow as they are moved from field to field. We have already conducted
training sessions on the use of this tool, and are in the process of using it to help us identify
date fields in our programs. Use of this tool will also help
with estimating resources needed to complete the project. In addition to the newly-purchased
software product, our repository which houses all of our software, ENDEVOR (Environment for Development and Operations),
is equipped with its own
scanning tool, which helps us focus on those areas in the code most likely to contain dates. While
neither of these tools avoid the necessity of looking at every line, they will make the analysis
phase of this project quicker and easier.

Other Areas Affected

The conversion to a system which can handle 21st century dates affects more than lines of computer
code. Many forms currently in use have a preprinted "19'' prefix in showing dates. Since
preprinted forms require a long time to be revised, they must be changed as early as possible.
Also, the computer screens that our employees see display only two-digit dates. Because the
screens themselves are full, changing the dates to display a
four-digit date would involve redesigning screens and the order
in which data are displayed. As a result, we decided to continue to show two-digit years on the
screens and use an algorithm to determine which century applies. We will redesign only those
screens where the century cannot be determined.

Interagency Activities

I would like to briefly mention that the Office of Management and Budget asked SSA last year to
lead interagency discussions designed to increase awareness of the Year 2000 issue and encourage a
sense of urgency concerning the changes that will be needed. The Year 2000 Interagency Committee
Chairperson is Kathleen Adams, Associate Commissioner for Software Design and Development, SSA.
The Committee began meeting in November 1995 with only a few representatives attending, but the
number has grown to more than 20 participants, and the number grows with every meeting.

It is important to keep in mind that each organization must find solutions that meet its unique
needs, and that there is no single approach that all agencies can employ. The purpose of the
interagency committee is to discuss cross-cutting aspects of the problem, such as interagency data
exchanges and availability of various vendor products. Furthermore, we believe that this group is
meeting its objective to raise awareness of this issue and to encourage timely action. To this
end, SSA and the Year 2000
Interagency Committee will be sponsoring a Year 2000 conference
for all Government agencies on May 2, 1996, in Washington, D.C. Government agencies and private
sector firms will share their experiences and approaches for addressing the Year 2000 problem in
their organizations. Vendors that have Year 2000 solutions will also be present to answer questions
and distribute product literature.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, it would be impossible to overstate the importance of a smooth and
timely transition of computer operations to accommodate the need to reflect 4-digit years as w
enter the 21st century. There should be no question of what needs to be accomplished over the next
several years, and no hesitancy in devoting the resources required to ensure timely completion of
the task. I can assure you that SSA will continue
to work to complete the project on time.

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